


Chicken Soup for the Soul

by Vrika



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 01:03:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12947949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vrika/pseuds/Vrika
Summary: Your OC is sick with the Flu, and two super solders come to make soup and watch the Muppets.(That's really all it is)





	1. Mama Barnes' Chicken Noodle Soup

Friday's voice came through my coughing, "Sergeant Barnes is at your doorway, asking if he can come in. What should I tell them?"

I wheezed and said, "Open a line to James, Friday."

"Line open," said Friday.

"James, I'm sorry, we were supposed to spar today, right? I'm really sick," as I was racked with another cough.

"Aww, babe, I heard. I brought over some stuff to make chicken soup, if you wanted me too. I can't get sick, y'know, so I thought I might keep you company for a bit? Make you soup and make sure you get to bed ok?"

"Friday, let him in," i coughed again, feeling miserable.

James came in with a bag of groceries, dropping it off in my kitchen. I didn't have a whole floor like he and Steve shared, but there were some floors of apartments for some of the vast numbers of support staff who needed to be on call or nearby for the Avengers, but my apartment was a nice size for me, I didnt need a lot of room.

"Aww, doll, you look terrible." he said, walking over and putting his hand against my forehead. "Friday, do you have her vitals?"

"She's indeed running a fever, Sargent Barnes, and has all the symptoms of the flu." said Friday.

I coughed again, my hand going to my throat.

"What have you taken so far for it?" he asked, stroking my hair away from my face. I wriggled into my blankets.

"Just some asprin and advil for the fever and aches. I'll need to take another dose in about an hour, I think, I asked Friday to keep track for me."

He got down on his knees next to the couch and said, "Aww, you could have called, Stevie or I could have come earlier, since neither of us have to worry about the flu."

I muttered, "Sure, some little analyst who sits behind a desk all day should bug the Avengers to come hang with her while she's got the flu."

"Hey. HEY! I thought we were friends!" said James, pulling back, hurt on his face.

I startled and burrowed a little more under my blankets. "I'm sorry, James. We _are_ friends. I just wouldnt have thought to bother either of you, especially not when you were working."

He leaned up and kissed my forehead, a slight smile on his face. "Well, that does make sense, even tho you could have! You're forgiven, and probably 'cause you remind me of someone else when they used to get sick."

"Awww, James, really? I'm not as grumpy as rumors have it Steve was!" I giggled and coughed again.

"Nah, you're as fiery, tho." he stood up, all graceful, and wandered back to the kitchen and unpacked the ingredients. "Nothing fancy, just Mama Barnes' chicken and dumpling soup. She used to make this for Steve when his ma was working, and he wasnt feeling well. She taught me to make it, too."

"Aww, James, that's really sweet." I sat back, and watched him handle the knife while he chopped and sliced and diced and got things into the pot. He grinned at me, when he saw I was distracted by his knife skills and showed off a little, twirling the knife as he diced the vegetables.

I laughed. I know he knew I loved his knife skills, that watching him chop vegetables made me happy. He was so fast, and smooth, even when he was playing with the knife, doing tricks with it across his hands. I snuggled into the blankets some more, and watched him, slightly mesmerized.

Once everything had been sauteed and was bubbling in the pot and the pasta was drying, he came over with a mug of warm water and honey and lemon and handed it to me. "How much have you had to drink? I want to make sure you stay hydrated."

I took the mug gratefully and began to sip it, while James wandered around my apartment, straightening up.

"Awww," I curled up harder, embarassed that a day of having the flu had left my space such a mess."

"Come on, doll, its ok. Remember, I wanted to," he said, "Is nicer, when you aren't feeling well, to have your space neat, I think."

"You're right, it is nice. Thank you, James." I muttered around the mug. His smile was generous and sweet.

Finishing up by tossing a bunch of tissues away, he washed his hands, checked the soup, and said, "Needs another twenty and thirty minutes of simmering, before I can drop the dumplings in."

Coming back over to the couch, he said, "Shove over, we can snuggle, and you can pick a movie."

"Awww, man, you sure? I dont want to watch something you and Steve have on your list." I said, muzzily.

"We'll just watch it again, or you can pick something I've seen, just not anything too weepy." he said, "Plus, i think your fever is spiking again, and you wont remember much anyway."

He was right, so I picked up the remote and poked at it, "How about the Muppets? have you ever seen the 30 minute tv show they had? So funny. It was my introduction to American Culture when I moved here,"

"Oh yea, you mentioned that! Sure, let's watch it." he said, pulling me and all my blankets under his arm.

I kinda dozed a little while he laughed at Fozzie Bear's bad jokes, and Stadler and Waldorf's heckling, and the very funny musical with Jim Nabors. When it was over, he unwrapped himself from around me, and got up, looking at his phone.

"Hey, doll, I know you aren't feeling well, but Stevie pinged, wanting to know what we were doing for dinner. I could tell him to fend for himself, but there is a lot of soup..."

Another round of coughs racked my frame, and I must have looked really pathetic. I mumbled, "If he doesnt mind my being half a vegetable, sure, I'm happy to share soup and more Muppets, if you want."

James looked up, we all did, whenever we would talk to Friday, and said, "Hey, Friday, tell Stevie to come on over, I'm just about to drop the pasta in."

"Of course, Sergeant Barnes," said Friday's voice.

I snorfled and grabbed a tissue out of the box that James had placed near my hand, and glared at it a little grateful and annoyed it was there, then blew my nose. My doorbell chimed and I said, "Friday, if that's Steve, please let him in,"

"Of course," said Friday, and the door slid open.

"Awww," said Steve, looking at me on the couch. He came over and kissed me on the forehead. "Bucky said you had the flu, and he was making you Mama Barnes' Chicken Noodle soup."

I nodded, still holding my tissue against my nose, and Steve smiled and whispered, "He only remembered how to make the soup recently. He used to make it all the time for me, and I'm glad he's making it for you." His eyes were doing that thing, where he's so happy James had remembered something else, especially something like cooking a dish he'd make for Steve.

I smiled at him, "I'm glad he remembered, and he's willing to make it." Sometimes the memories hurt James, so he doesnt want to remember too much, but things around taking care of Steve seem to be ok.

I watched as he went into the kitchen and put his arms around Bucky, who was slicing up the noodles from the homemade dough that had been drying while the soup was simmering.

"Stevie, about to put the noodles in, dinner in about 20 minutes," he said, turning to drop a kiss against Steve's face.

It was hard not to get super smushy watching the two of them. "Best friends on playground and battlefield." indeed. The history books would have been better if they had, but being gay back then certainly wasnt something they could have been open about.

James said, "She's probably going 'awwww' and pretending to gag at the same time, Stevie. Go pick out a tv show for us to watch while the soup finishes."

Steve kissed Bucky's cheek again, and came back over. "Is it gonna be too warm for you if you are in the middle of a superhero sandwich?"

"Its a good thing I'm sick, Steve, 'cause this girl would love to be the tuna in the middle of your white bread slices." Steve stopped a moment, looked at me, and I was mortified. "Ugh, being sick makes me grumpy and apparently rude. No, I'm cold and shivering with this stupid flu, and being warmed up sounds really lovely."

He laughed, "Well, when you are feeling better, we can talk about being in the middle of white bread, but I'm going to chalk that up to feverish ramblings."

James laughed, "Stevie couldn't tell me how he felt for the longest time. It wasn't until he had some terrible pneumonia and was half out of his mind from the fever that he finally was able to tell me how he felt."

"Ugh. Bucky knew all along, but hadn't wanted to say or do anything until I was willing to admit it," laughed Steve, who had curled up on one side of me, and was brushing my hair away from my face, while handing me another mug of warm water with lemon and honey.

"You both are ridiculous. But I'm glad we're friends," I said, holding the mug.

They queued up the next Muppet show and Steve laughed even harder at Statler and Waldorf's heckling and Fozzies bad jokes.

When the show was over, the soup was ready, and even tho I was still freezing, I sat at the table because I wasn't a complete heathen, and let them talk around me.

Afterwards, I said, "Thanks, guys, tho I think I'm going to want to head to bed," as I watched them clean up my kitchen and pack up the soup in containers to make it easy for me to heat up later.

"Sure, doll," said James. "You want one of us to hang out here on the couch?"

"Friday, how long does it take Steve or James here to get to my room from theirs, if I said I needed them?"

"Under 90 seconds if they run."

"So, no, you can go sleep in your OWN super hero beds instead of crunching up on my almost not big enough for the three of us couch."

I coughed again and wiped my nose with the tissue again, "Also, seriously, you two need some alone time. Steve is all emo 'cause his Bucky remembered how to make Mama Barnes's chicken noodle soup."

James turned around and looked at Steve closely, while Steve looked away from both of us, pretending that my art on the wall, some fan art I had framed of the Avengers in motion, very stylized, but I liked its bright color and reminder of who I was working for, and helping.

"Stevie?" said James, as he walked up to Steve. I stepped back, opening my door, and pointing them at the hallways, because I was sick, and they really did ineed to talk.

"I swear, I'll tell Friday to contact you if I need anything, or if the fever gets worse. Promise. Now, go."

"Love ya, doll," said James, dropping a kiss on my cheek, as Steve looked at me, dumbfounded.

"Love you both, now go." I gave Steve a hug and pushed him out. "Go. Its ok, you know, he's strong enough for you to be emotional about this. Its good, he's remembering stuff."

"Thanks, sweetheart." he said, following after James.

"You're welcome!" I said, closing the door.

I trundled off to bed, my stomach and heart full, clutching the box of tissues.


	2. Halt and Catch Fire, and other memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more soup, but mostly old, and odd memories  
> References to maybe having to prostitute oneself to pay the rent.   
> Cold Med induced foot in mouth disease  
> Robots catching on fire.

The next morning, Friday chimed again, "Sir wants to know when his favorite analyst is going to get up out of bed and come back to work."

I snorfled into another tissue and said, "Friday, tell Stark that I _still_ have the flu, and Dr Cho said I need to not be around non-enhanced individuals for at least the rest of the week."

"Also, please email Dr Cho and recommend that everyone who can get a flu shot? Maybe we can arrange free ones for the building. What day is this? Day 4? I'm still woozy."

"Mr Stark is outside your door, and says 'My suit can keep out some stupid flu virus'. Also, emails to Dr Cho sent."

"OMG, my uber-boss is not actually outside." I shouted, and then started coughing again.

"Hey, let me in, brainiac, I'm in the suit, and I can't get sick that way." I heard Tony's voice come over the monitor. I knew he'd overridden Friday's command to keep calls and visitors out.

"Also, might I remind you, that you answer to Ms Potts now, and not to Mr Stark? As she mentioned, 'That's a terrible idea, we can't have the ridiculous HR suit he'll cost the company.'" said Friday, breaking back over Stark's babbling.

I grabbed one of Darcy's knit hats and pulled it over my head, and pushed all the tissues into the trash next to the bed, and fluffed up the blanket while I got under it again.

"FINE, show that self centered rich guy in." I grumbled.

I heard the mechanical noise of the Iron Man suit as he came into the apartment, and into my room.

I was holding another tissue to my nose, and he said, "Well, you DO look terrible."

"Thanks, Mr Stark, I'm glad I let you wake me up from my flu med induced sleep for you to come into my apartment AND INSULT ME."

"Oh, yea, true. But I brought Orange Juice," he said, unapologetically, as a small robot trundled in.

"You named the new robot Orange Juice?" I said, looking at it.

"Oh, no, you can name your personal assistant robot yourself, but its carrying some OJ for you. Fresh pressed, I think too."

The little robot, which looked still like a small garbage can on treads, rolled up and small mechanical hands handed me a glass of juice.

"Personal assistant robot?" I said, warily.

"Yea, Friday or you can control it, its able to get around most of the building, and can get you stuff. Its able to carry trays, liquids, meds, books, whatever."

"So, like, I can tell it to get me a glass of cold water from the kitchen?"

Friday said serenely, "Would you like that?"

I said, uncertainly, "Sure...."

The little 'bot rolled out, coming back with a pint glass full of cool water.

"Huh." I said, "That could be handy."

"I thought you might play around with it while you were stuck in bed, and see what its limits are?" said Tony. It was hard to tell his emotions from inside the suit, but I think he really did want to try and be nice, just being a jerky rich old guy came way more naturally.

"Hey, Tony?" I said, since he was in my bedroom.

"Yea?" the IronMan head turned towards me absently. I knew he was already looking at something else.

"Can you go back to your lab, now? I"ll take care of the Unnamed Bot, and test it out while I'm still stuck here being sick, and send you updates, ok?"

He said distractedly, "Sure, sure." and walked out.

"Friday, do you think he knows my actual name?"

"Probably not, tho it doesnt help you wont let me call you by it," said Friday.

"Hey little 'bot," I said, ignoring Friday. I had my reasons. "Does the 'bot have a designation?"

It chirped, and I laughed, "Morse Code, huh? I'm a little rusty, can you translate, Friday?"

"StarkBot #1573 is pleased to accept whatever designation the user would prefer."

"Oh, no, we'll have to fix that," I said, "Can we call you Morse?"

The 'bot beeped a little and I remembered enough to know what they had said, which was, "Morse would be appropriate!"

"Great, Morse, now, here, take these tissues and put them in the trash. Friday, do I get to watch on the TV as Morse goes around?"

As Morse trundled out, I wondered for a moment, "We're sure this one won't catch fire like some of Tony's other robots, right?"

Just as I said that, I heard a noise from the kitchen, a whumpf as a bunch of gas goes alight, and heard Friday tell me, "No worries, Miss, the sprinklers just in the kitchen are enough to put it out."

I sighed.

Later in the morning, Steve and James dropped by to help take Morse back to Tony's lab, and clean up the mess in my kitchen.

"Sorry, doll, I know he was trying to be helpful, but setting part of your kitchen on fire while you are sick probably wasn't what you needed," said James, dropping a kiss on my cheek as he placed a tray with soup and some meds. "Friday mentioned it was time for another dose of meds for you,"

"And having you both come up to deal with it isn't what I needed, either!" I said. "Man, i'm super whiney. SUPER SUPER whiney. Also this soup is so good, James. I'm glad you made it for me."

"Well, Stevie could have opened up a can of Campbells too." he laughed.

"Look, I have some nostalgia for canned Campbells," I grinned. "Its hot, salty, and has lots of noodles. I never want it except when I'm sick!"

Steve stood by the doorway to my bedroom, wiping his hands. "I think I got everything else cleaned up,"

"Thanks, Steve," I said. "Facing a waterlogged kitchen wasnt happening, tho I wished Tony had come and cleaned it himself."

James snorted, "He'd have literally just replaced the kitchen."

As this was likely true, I didnt argue with them. "Do you know if I'll get poor Morse back?"

"Did you name the robot? I feel like you should wait to see if they halt and catch fire first!" said Steve, bringing in some chairs and tray tables so he and Barnes could eat with me, as I didnt want to get out of bed.

"I am feverish! Also, he gave me my own robot. And then it caught on fire within 15 minutes of him leaving. I'm sad about that." I said, actually pretty sad about Morse.

"Aww, doll, no, not sad, we're here to clean up and cheer you up!" said James

You guys are both so sweet." I said, deciding I needed to examine the fact that i'd bonded with this robot in less than 15 minutes at some other time. "Tell me something fun to cheer me up."

"So these TV table trays are a great invention, you know," said Steve as he brought in bowls of soup and set them up on a tray and James started telling me about Clint and his last contest at the range. The two of them keep trying to one up each other on arrows vs handguns and its been VERY evenly matched.

"Wait, so you were both upside down, and the target was sideways? did you have to do it from that position?"

"Yea, moving would have made it easier."

"James, how were you hanging from the rafter?"

Steve looked up, "You know, I hadn't asked that but now that you mention it..."

James started to look around, obviously not wanting to tell us that neither he nor Clint had been clipped in with any safety equipment.

I cut that off quickly by saying, "Friday, tell me there's video? Let's see it on the tv here,"

James groaned as I patted the bed next to me and motioned to Steve to come sit near me to see the screen more clearly.

"Doll, really, its not.."

"You hush, James Buchanan Barnes, and I'll let the video speak for itself." i said, as I watched the video unfold of the two of them climbing to the top most ceiling beams, and hung upside down off of it. "How is Clint even holding on?" I murmurred to Steve, as he had to use both hands to draw his bow. James at least held on with one hand.

"It explains those thighs," Steve muttered back at me, and I caught James' glare. Hoho, Bucky is jealous of Stevie noticing Clint's thighs.

"Well, we're going to have to ask him and Widow. I'm curious now!"

"You know Nat will _kill_ him when she finds out." Steve said.

We kept watching as they shot 12 rounds, upside down, and at a number of angles and still, both were evenly matched.

James said quietly, "There wasn't any danger, Stevie. I coulda hung on with only my arm,"

Steve's lips pressed together, "Except Clint isn't enhanced, Bucky. What if either of you had slipped? Its one thing to do it when we are fighting... " and then he stopped, and put his head in his hands.

I patted his shoulder. "Kinda must feel like payback for being a little punk, huh, Steve?"

James laughed, a sharp bark, putting a hand to his mouth as he realized something.

Steve's head shot up when he heard the laugh, and his face got that look when he realized the memory hurt. I shoved at him, moving him over and patted the bed again for James, who was still holding his hand over his mouth.

"Come here, and lay down in the middle of us, James," I said, bossy as usual. He started to, but then looked at me. His prosthetic hand was over his mouth still and he was about to lay so it was on the same side as me.

I'd never been afraid of him with me, particularly when he was awake, even when he went into these occasional fugues. There were codes in place in the office, of course, for any of the Avengers - we had drills with the security team and Hill on what to do if Banner turned into the Hulk, and if Vision or Wanda, or any of the others had an issue. There were saferooms and emergency exits in the various rooms, and those of us who worked more closely with them all knew what to do.

But I remembered once, a little bit after I'd started, and some of us were having lunch together, where he must have remembered something about his immediate family. I had dark hair like his, and something must have reminded him of his long lost sister, and without thinking about it, or asking me, he'd leaned over and mussed up my hair. Startled, he said, "Her's was curlier and thicker,"

Realizing his 'metal' hand was in my hair, he'd startled, about to pull away, when I'd caught his wrist and said, "No, don't pull away!"

He'd caught some of my hair in the scales of his hand, and it had hurt a little when he had pulled back. I caught his eye and said, "Hey, its ok, I just want to see if we can untangle ourselves without you having to pull out a chunk of my hair."

He managed to get out "Doll, I'm so sorry," before I put a hand to his lips and shushed him.

"No, no sorry. Who knew Stark couldn't design this not to catch on hair, of all things." I said, glaring at Tony over James' shoulder. Srsly, some genius, what if the man was jerking off or petting Steve? "Tell me what you remembered about your sister?" as he and I carefully tugged loose the strands of hair that had gotten caught.

"Aww, she and I were eating dinner with our Ma. We were sitting at our kitchen table, and Ma was in the kitchen. Becca was saying something silly and I leaned over and mussed up her hair. She had thick curly hair, always so wild, not at all like yours. Its so soft and silky."

"Well, can I say I am super relieved that touching me doesnt remind me of your sister, 'cause that would kill any flirty comments from me like whoa," I said, patting his wrist since we'd gotten all the hair out.

Stark broke in at that point with, "Wait, what do you mean _I_ design that arm. That's not MY design, that's Wakandan."

"Well, I guess the next time I chat with Shuri, I'll let her know the CRITICAL FLAW in that design." I said, slightly shocked that she'd made that mistake.

Then Stark followed with, "And were you seriously _flirting_ with Terminator here? Are you bonkers?"

Kissing my fingers and touching James face, as he leaned away, I glared at Tony and said, "Look, _boss_, its lunchtime, and I'm eating LUNCH with my _friends_, and I can flirt with them if I want, right, James?"

James dropped his arm behind my shoulder and looked laconically at Tony, "Yea, Doll, you can do whatever you like on your own time, right?"

Steve and Clint walked up to see Tony spluttering and stomping away, muttering something about cradle robbing.

"I'm not sure what Stark's worried about, I think I'm effectively older than you and Stevie. Maybe even Clint." I snorted.

Clint said, "Well, I thought that's why you are our analyst, we needed at least one adult other than Natasha having to do it all the time."

It frankly was one of the reasons I had been hired.

Back to now, looking at James calmly, I patted the space in between me and Steve. "If it will make you feel better, Steve and I can switch places, but I'm not afraid of your arm, James."

He didn't say anything, just lay down on the pillows in between us, and I sat next to him, letting him put his head in my lap, while Steve lay on his chest.

"Did you want to tell us what you remembered, or does it hurt, James?" I said, quietly.

"Hurts a little," he said, "Was remembering pulling Steve out of an alley where I thought he was fighting with someone, but they weren't actually fighting..."

Steve sat up and blushed. "We were so short on money, I thought maybe I could earn a little if someone .."

"Awww, Steve," I said. This was certainly not in the history books, that these boys had been so poor they had resorted to selling themselves.

James curled up on himself. Steve said, "Are you remembering punching that guy? We ended up just stealing his money."

"Fucker was so rich, why'd he need you in the damned alley, Stevie? Asshole couldn't afford a room? And why were you doin' it? I was going to get paid that Friday..."

"Aww, Bucky, I was so tired of you having to work so hard. Plus, you liked what I did with my mouth, I thought maybe he would too, and give me a good tip."

James barked a little, "Remember, you said he had nice thighs..." and he breathed out again, "I never want to see someone else's dick in that mouth, Stevie."

Steve sat up and looked at me, "JAMES! watch your mouth!" he hissed, embarrassed.

I laughed, "And here, look, I was about to say something rude about seeing Steve suck my silicon dick, but I'm .." and then I clapped my hand over my mouth. "Fucking cold meds, I'm a damned lightweight."

James and Steve both laughed out loud at that, and sat up to hug me.

"Still feeling ok, there, James?" I asked, after my blush had worn off a little.

"Yea, Doll, I do. Stevie was trying to take care of me, the way I like to take care of him." he said, smiling at his blond idiot.

Steve's smile always looked like the sun lighting up, and that's what it felt like, with them looking at each other.

"Do you two need to go, take a moment or three, there?" I said, laughing.

"Aww, Doll, you are too good to us. We're supposed to be taking care of you!" said James. But I knew they could use a moment or three. 

"You did, my kitchen is clean, you've taken the 'bot to be repaired, and I've got hot soup. Go, be smooshy in your rooms and rip each other's clothes off. I'll call if I need anything."

"You really sure, doll?" said James, looking at me seriously.

"Always, remember, I know how fast you can get here if I really needed you." I said, smiling.

James got to his knees and leaned over me, his prosthetic hand cupping my jaw, as he kissed my cheek, and whispered, "You know, seeing YOUR dick in Stevie's mouth might be just fine, doll." as my cheeks flamed again, and he lept out of the bed smoothly, taking his and Steve's bowls.

I sat still, my eyes wide, staring at Steve, my hands on my face. Steve looked at me, looked at the doorway where James had sauntered off, and said, "Well, at least I wasn't the only one thinking it," as he leaned over and kissed my other cheek, lept off the bed, and took the trays with him.

I stared at my soup, and stared at the video monitor showing Clint and James' upsidedown bodies on the truss and thought, "Well, it might be fun at that," as I pushed the traytable away from the bed, and rolled over onto my pillows to fall back into a feverish sleep.


End file.
